Safety Considerations When Retrofitting State & Government Office Buildings

With most state and local budgets feeling the pressure to keep costs down, town halls, capital buildings, and administrative buildings of all sorts are performing retrofits rather than building new facilities. In many ways, performing this sort of retrofit work is just another public project with the usual municipal construction safety concerns. But some of the specific tasks and work environments involved deserve special consideration. This article will look at some of the risks, and at procedures and equipment that can minimize hazards.

What jobs and hazards are involved in a retrofit?

Bringing a building that may be over 100 years old and might not have seen significant modernization in decades into the 21st century can be a very involved project. But whether your crews are retrofitting an 18th-century statehouse or a municipal office building constructed in the 1990s, the focus is usually on the systems that can have the biggest and most immediate impact on energy efficiency and environmental responsibility. These projects often involve workers going up on roofs, climbing ladders to reach high ceilings, descending into basements, and entering crawlspaces. All of which means two familiar concerns for anyone responsible for municipal construction safety: fall hazards and confined spaces safety. 

The most common tasks in a building retrofit include:

• Upgrading lighting from older incandescent or fluorescent systems to LEDs. This is more than swapping out bulbs; new housings and even new wiring are usually installed.
• Replacing and retrofitting HVAC systems, including the AC units and furnaces, as well as the pumps, fans, and thermostats throughout the facility.
• Waste/recycling stream improvements may be as simple as adding one or two new bins to each kitchen or breakroom, but if the building uses a garbage chute system, this may be augmented with additional chute(s), or the entire system may be removed or replaced. Waste management retrofitting can also involve installing rainwater or grey water reclamation systems. 
• Insulation improvement to reduce air conditioning and heat loss can make a big difference to a municipal building’s energy costs and carbon footprint. This work may also involve overdue asbestos remediation.
• Smart meters and sensors may need to be installed on any of these systems, to manage and monitor energy use, remotely control system activity, and measure what’s coming out of exhaust pipes and drains. 

How can you keep workers safe during a building retrofit?

As you know, municipal construction safety generally is not subject to federal regulations. But state and local occupational safety laws are generally modeled on the nationwide guidelines, which offer excellent guidance for keeping workers protected. You should familiarize yourself with all relevant regulations, especially as they pertain to fall protection and confined spaces safety for your workers, as these are both frequent areas of particular risk during a retrofit project.

Safety when working at height

Whether going up to the roof to replace HVAC units or ascending to an interior ceiling to install LED lighting, municipal workers need fall protection. On a flat roof, permanent or movable guardrails around the perimeter of the roof edge may provide adequate protection, but when performing heavy equipment work near the leading edge or on a roof without rails, all workers should be issued fall protection harnesses, lanyards, and lifelines, and be fully trained in how to use them safely. This includes procedures for inspecting the harness before and after use, attaching to the lanyards and lifelines, and properly adjusting any straps and buckles.

When working at height on the building interior, scaffolding or powered lifts may be used for particularly high ceilings or large-scale jobs. In many smaller projects, workers will be accessing ceilings and ducts high on the walls using portable ladders. Safety regulations in most states do not require workers using portable ladders to use fall arrest equipment. But for prolonged work on ceilings (including performing upgrades to LED lighting fixtures), fall protection harnesses can provide important protection. 

Confined spaces safety

Any space that a person can wholly or partly enter that is not designed for human occupancy and to which access is limited qualifies as a confined space. Simply by their restricted accessibility, they present municipal construction safety hazards, but many confined spaces also include hazardous substances, low-oxygen or toxic atmospheres, or fall hazards. Confined spaces commonly encountered when retrofitting government offices include ledges on building exteriors, crawlspaces, the partially exposed interiors of walls, floors, or ceilings, and ventilation ductwork.

The single most important aspect of confined spaces safety is thorough inspection of the jobsite and complying with a clear safety plan created specifically for each site and each job. The plan must detail tasks, responsibilities, equipment, and safety controls that will be part of the job. It also includes having all equipment (including rescue equipment) on-site and ready for use before any work in the confined space begins.

Workers entering confined spaces in which there are fall hazards must be wearing fall protection harnesses, attached to personal lifelines and a properly certified anchor point. The tripod, boom, or mast-type anchor must be capable of supporting multiple workers, as a rescuer may need to use the same anchor point in the event of an incident. Worker extraction will be required if they are injured, overcome by fumes, or otherwise incapacitated while inside a confined space.

Choosing a municipal construction safety partner

Before you begin any government office retrofitting or other major project, you should consult with experts in all aspects of doing the job right and keeping your workers safe. Tractel® brings decades of global experience with municipal, state, and local government construction equipment and safety solutions. Talk to us today and let us help you conduct retrofits, new construction, and day-to-day upkeep projects more safely and effectively. 

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